What is Hail?

Dark clouds gather and a thunderstorm begins. The patter of rain grows louder and louder. Suddenly, something is pounding on the roof. That “something” is hail.

Hail is lumps of ice and snow. Usually the hailstones look like little beads, but they may be as big as golf balls – or even larger!

Hailstones begin as frozen raindrops in a rain cloud. Wind carries them to a part of the cloud that has some extra cold water drops. Some of the drops land on the already frozen drops, causing them to freeze also.

The frozen drops grow larger as more water drops freeze onto them. This continues as long as an upward wind can support them. The wind keeps them in contact with the extra cold water in the cloud.

Sometimes the wind will slow, and the hailstones will start to fall. But a gust will lift them back up to the extra cold part of the cloud, where they grow even more. Finally, they are so heavy, the wind cannot lift them. The hailstones fall and you can hear them hitting roofs, grass, and pavements.

Picture Credit : Google